1503 Rome riots

The 1503 Rome riots occurred on 18 August 1503, the day of Pope Alexander VI's death. The people of Rome, as per tradition, began rioting after hearing the news of the Pope's passing, which had occurred during a malaria outbreak. The Gonfaloniere of the Papal States, Cesare Borgia (who was also infirm at the time), ordered for troops to be deployed to guard the Apostolic Palace before Johann Burchard announced the Pope's death. However, the rioters proceeded to attack these soldiers, and Borgia family member and Papal secretary Aurelio Borgia Matuzzi was cornered and brutally murdered. The Papal troops butchered the rioting populace, but also suffered heavy losses in the process.

Cesare Borgia sought to request French reinforcements to protect the city from Cardinal Della Rovere, the Orsini, and the Colonna, who were likely to move on Rome during the chaos, but Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba landed in Sicily with a battalion of Spanish troops with the intent of driving the French from Italy; King Louis XII of France needed all of the mercenaries at his disposal. Cesare decided to inform the guards of every gate to keep Della Rovere out, but the Orsini and Colonna joined forces to march on the city. The chaos continued in Rome even after the population was butchered; as Burchard, Giulia Farnese, Aslam Gacet, and several Catholic priests carried the Pope's maggot-infested body to an altar for a funeral, mutineering guards stole the golden candles from the procession, causing for the Pope's body to fall to the floor. Gacet decided to skip protocol and have the Pope immediately entombed, rather than perform a seven-day ritual that would have to occur as the city was torn apart by riots.

Borgia demanded that Gacet request the assistance of the Ottoman Empire in saving the city from the Orsini and Colonna, and he requested that Gacet stay and advise him; however, Gacet said that Cesare was not the same man that the Pope was, and he bade Cesare farewell. Later, Borgia met with Fabrizio Colonna, and he agreed to ally with him, abandon his alliance with France, and give him the Orsini estates. The Orsinis fled Rome, having lost their fellow plotters.